1) When we read William James’ views on healthy-mindedness, we are in reality reading about the “father” of the New Thought Movement that exists today. We hear some positive and equally negative opinions about it. However, if are to make a personal judgment about the philosophy of healthy mindedness, then we have to look further than to William James’ The Varieties of Religious Experience which defines healthy-mindedness and also gives his viewpoints on it and from which we can make our own.
To understand James, a general definition of healthy-mindedness is needed. From the readings, it seems that people who practice healthy minded religion are optimists who focus on the positive in life and de-emphasize the negative. One might even say their motto would be similar to a famous Chinese proverb, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” James gives the name of "healthy-mindedness to the tendency which looks on all
He also states that healthy-mindedness is "... an abstract way of conceiving things as good". In essence, a person who is healthy-minded will see even the most evil of things and somehow conceive it as some sort of good. Healthy minded people refuse to admit reality of evil and systematically turn their attention away from all thoughts of any sort of evilness. He states they “Refuse to admit their badness; despise their power; ignore their presence; turn your attention the other way; and so far as you yourself are concerned…their evil character exists no longer…it is the ruling of your thoughts which proves to be your principal concern”. Once someone molds his mind to this sort of thinking, it becomes a sort of philosophy which makes it hard for the person to think otherwise. For example, the person would argue that what is the use of being unhappy? It’s not only unpleasant; it isn’t beneficial to others at all. He also talks about the advance of liber
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